Azarenka scratched from Brisbane International

The Brisbane International has been robbed of a marquee encounter with world number one Victoria Azarenka forced to withdraw because of a toe injury.

Azarenka was due to face Serena Williams in their semi-final on Pat Rafter Arena on Friday evening but she announced her withdrawal less than an hour before the first ball was due to be hit in anger.

The Australian Open champion has been battling the toe infection on her right foot since last week and had a minor surgical procedure on Thursday in attempt to remain in the tournament.

The infection was the result of what Azarenka described as a “bad pedicure” and she was troubled by the ailment in her two opening matches in Brisbane, which she both won comfortably.

She still expects to contest the Australian Open later this month and her decision to pull out of Brisbane is simply a precautionary measure as she is hopeful of being able to return to the practice court by the end of the weekend.

Williams now safely moves through to Saturday night’s final where she will meet Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat Ukrainian lucky loser Lesia Tsurenko 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in their semi-final.

“I had to take action on it, which I did yesterday,” a disappointed Azarenka told a media conference in Brisbane.

“Unfortunately I did not have enough time to recover.”

Azarenka says she had hoped to continue playing in spite of the pain but her condition deteriorated on Thursday to such an extent she had to seek medical advice.

“I tried everything – medication, taping and I was playing through the pain for a while,” she said.

“It was just something I had to do to make sure, so I can be fully recovered and ready for the Australian Open.”

Azarenka’s scratching is another major blow to tournament organisers, who already had to deal with the high-profile withdrawal of second seed Maria Sharapova.

The French Open champion pulled out a day before her first match on Wednesday because of a collarbone injury, and was replaced in the main draw by Tsurenko.

It was just something I had to do to make sure, so I can be fully recovered and ready for the Australian Open.

Victoria Azarenka

The tournament has also had to endure a series of early exits from its seeds, with Samantha Stosur, Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova all losing in the early rounds.

With Azarenka as top seed and Williams listed third it was felt that the outcome of Friday night’s semi-final would decide who wins the tournament.

Williams may hold an 11-1 career head-to-head advantage over Azarenka and was victorious in all five of their meetings last year, but the Belarusian did push the former to a third set in the US Open final.

The 15-time major singles champion won 7-5 in the third and their clash in Brisbane had been eagerly anticipated.

Williams has won all three career meetings with the 36th-ranked Pavlyuchenkova, who is chasing her fourth WTA title.